“down” in braille

⠙⠕⠺⠝4 lettersUncontracted

Written letter by letter, down in braille is d-o-w-n, one cell for each letter: ⠙⠕⠺⠝.

Now read one yourself

⠋⠁⠞⠓⠑⠗

Which word is this? heart, closed, father.

Cell by cell

Capitals

Braille letters are lower case unless marked. To start with a capital, as at the start of a sentence, put the capital sign, dot 6, before the first letter: ⠠⠙⠕⠺⠝. For the whole word in capitals, DOWN, use two capital signs: ⠠⠠⠙⠕⠺⠝.

Grade 1 and Grade 2

This is uncontracted (Grade 1) braille, every letter written out, which is where learners start. Books, signs and labels mostly use Grade 2, where common letter groups and words take a single cell, so some words come out shorter there. See the Grade 2 contractions.

Remember it, don't just look it up

Every word in uncontracted braille is its letters, so short words are where reading starts. Braille a Day brings it back tomorrow to answer from memory, then again just before you'd forget. Five minutes a day.

Practise reading Short words Practise writing